My oldest son is six years old and in first grade. It is a neat age.  He’s curious, loves to learn, conscientious and a good friend to his classmates. I love watching him grow, build confidence and become more independent.

Of course, there are also parenting challenges.

One of the current ones is helping him understand and then focus on what is important.

If given a task such as WRITE YOUR NAME ON THIS DESK PLACARD, he’ll easily spend the next hour or two designing a piece of art. (Mostly comprised of spiders and robots.)

It’s possible that his name will be entirely forgotten in the process.

I know that this is an early expression of some of his giftings and interests. I deeply want to support him to pursue those passions.

But it is also way off track. What should be a 2-minute task and then on to the next assignment becomes a massive detour away from what he’s supposed to accomplish.

When asked, he consistently seems surprised. After all, he was putting all his energy and focus into the assignment. He was working.

I mean, let’s be honest, is there anything cooler than a well-drawn spider vs. robot battle?

Unfortunately, his teacher seems to think so.

Transcendence: Leadership Focused on The Direction That Matters Most

Transcendence sounds mystical. But according to Dictionary.com, its meaning is tangible enough:

1. Going beyond ordinary limits; surpassing; exceeding.
2. Superior or supreme.

When we apply the word transcendence to leadership, it means the pursuit of:

• Extraordinary success for the organization you lead.
• The continual growth of the people you lead.
• A magnetic and “excellence-producing” organizational culture.

Unfortunately, some leaders aren’t interested in being transcendent.

Some do want excellence, but they struggle to recognize and then focus on what is truly important. They either fixate on unnecessary perfectionism or they “lead with tangents,” chasing the latest itch or shiniest object or putting out the most recent fire.

Others are content to stay safely within normal limits. They prefer to focus on avoiding failure as opposed to pursuing growth. They can be counted on to do, “just enough.” And no more.

What happens if the way you lead isn’t transcendent?

I once had a very brief job. It lasted about one week. I was contracted by a non-profit training company to provide their training and workshops.

There was high demand for their topic. A lot of opportunities.

However, I was given a script that made enormous assumptions about my audience.

So, as I delivered the content and learned about my audience, I quickly adjusted the script. I wanted to best serve them and discovered that certain elements of the script didn’t communicate. Other parts of it were hurtful, entirely due to contextual differences that the authors wouldn’t have been aware of.

In short order, I was hauled aside and told to “stay on script.” I brought the issue up with the executive director, explaining that for the audience they asked me to train, the core principles were effective, but parts of the script obscured or damaged the message.

I was told (inaccurately) that there was nothing they could do, I needed to follow the script.

I quit. I couldn’t work for an organization that was more fixated on rules than results.

Sure, rules and licensing agreements matter. But their rules were more in their head n in reality.

Every author & speaker I’ve ever met, wants their message to have an impact. They are generally open to making adjustments in delivery or style if it serves the larger purpose.  They are usually very open to feedback so their curriculum can improve.

I knew this. And suggested that we at least reach out to the authors and explore options. I was told, “No.”

The organization shut down shortly after. I can only presume that their leader’s narrow thinking was a contributing factor.

I don’t doubt that she wanted to do a great job. But her mindset and leadership were anything but transcendent.

Without transcendence – teams and organizations (the people you lead) tend to “perform to captivity.”

They lead up to the leader’s personal ceiling which is often defined by that leader’s vision, self-image and ability to make things happen.

Every leader has a ceiling. But some leader’s ceilings are so high and compelling, that everyone grows beyond what they ever expected of themselves.

Other leader’s ceilings are so low that the only people they can retain are those with no other options or aspirations.

I’ve found that spending even a short amount of time with a team is a quick way to determine the height of a leader’s ceiling.

• A transcendent team is the result of a transcendent leader.
• Teams that follow a non-transcendent leader?
  • Teams that “just do enough.”
  • Teams that are constantly running in different directions – with no clear focus.

How to Be A Transcendent Leader and Cultivate A Culture of Excellence

Stand on Your Tip Toes: Some leaders naturally have enormous amounts of drive and vision.

Other leaders, who have great potential, don’t. That’s ok. But you can only lead towards what you see.

When I work with a leader who is struggling to describe his or her vision, I’ve found that this struggle is nearly always associated that person’s sense of self-efficacy and confidence, more than anything else.

Leaders who believe they can set a course and be successful in getting there, often do. Leaders who don’t have this confidence, don’t.

If your biggest vision looks a lot more like a “to do list” than a vision, then do this:

• Choose the furthest time horizon that you dare to try to plan for. It’s ok if this is only weeks or months.
• Stand on your tip toes. Try to imagine just a few more weeks or months beyond.
• If you (and your team) could accomplish one thing during that time frame – What should that one thing be?

Align everyone and everything around your vision: Everyone’s goals should directly contribute to accomplishing or supporting the vision.

If this isn’t possible, then one of two things are wrong:

• The vision isn’t big enough. Everyone needs to get a little more audacious.
• Your team isn’t really (and shouldn’t be) a team – which may be ok. But you need to know this. Read more to find out if your team should be a team here.

If you aren’t sure how to align your team, I have the perfect resource for you here.

Spend time around people who see & do “bigger.” Who we spend time with shapes our thinking.

If we are around small thinking people who don’t accomplish much – we will be immersed in the kind of mindset that reinforces the idea of limits.

If we are around people who are big thinkers but struggle to follow through – we’ll be immersed in either:

• Some variant of “get rich quick” thinking that wants results without efforts or
• The kind of thinking that always finds excuses not to do something.

However, if we are around people who both see and accomplish bigger things – we’ll be immersed in the kind of thinking and relationships that will contribute to our own growth naturally.

Don’t argue with success:  A very faint acquaintance of mine, one step removed from a stranger, recently asked me to help her out by buying her book.

She didn’t tell me the title or what her book was about. She made it clear she self-published it at Office Max.  She didn’t make clear what value the book might offer at all. She just wanted my help.

I noticed that she had also contacted another author to also ask for their help. Most authors know how difficult writing, publishing, and marketing is. Especially the first time. As a result, most are usually generous toward new authors.

In this case, both I and the other author declined to buy her book. (She never did tell us what her book was titled or what it was about.) But we gave her similar advice about more effective approaches to position herself and sell copies of her book.

She argued with both of us. She wanted to succeed via her preferred route.

Don’t argue with success. Especially if what you are doing isn’t working.

Cultivate Focus. Kill multi-tasking: In the movies, the super-successful CEO power walks down the hall with a gaggle of assistants chasing after, making reports, asking questions and seeking decisions.

The CEO shoots out short, crisp, powerful sounding answers. Everyone scurries off to do very important and effective things.

In the movies.

Only.

Multi-tasking is the functional equivalent of working drunk. Yes, there are times when leaders need to juggle a number of things at the same (or nearly the same) time.

You might even be walking when this happens.

But those times will never be when you do your best work or move your organization forward.

In fact, you’ll often have to remake or redo many of those decisions.

Cultivate the habits of concentration. Build times in your schedule to focus on one task or related tasks. You’ll do a better job and get far more done.

Progress not perfection: I once dated a woman who said, “I know you are good for me. But how do I know you are the best for me?”

Blech.

I doubt I’m “the best” for anyone.

I’ve never found out where I rank on the good-to-best scale with my wife. I’d have to be careful with the timing of that question.

But I am confident that she would say we (usually) have a good marriage that is progressively becoming a better one.

Is our marriage perfect? Nope.

Should I expect it to be? Nope.

Can I (and we) keep working to make it better? Yup.

A transcendent leader will never know all the answers, be entirely ready, have the perfect team or the perfect conditions. But that leader doesn’t need perfection.

The transcendent leader is focused on creating progress. Every day.

Don’t make it hard. Don’t make it mystical. Every day just take at least one step towards growth and improvement.

Being transcendent is tangible and accessible. But most won’t do it. Become exceptional by simply being the exception that keeps growing.

Take good care,

Christian

Read my recent article in Forbes.com: Four Ways Leaders Sabotage Their Own Success (And How To Stop.)

Would you like to stop running in circles with conflict at work? Read my book Conflict and Leadership

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